Super Eurobeat 203

1.David Dima - Freedom (Dima Music)
I'm fairly certain that anyone who follows the eurobeat industry these days is aware of just how high class the Dima music productions are. Starting a new Super Eurobeat album with David Dima seems like a fairly play-it-safe way to me. Freedom has a really balanced production all around, the sounds, the vocals and most of all the melody all function well. The song in short works out nicely, just that there is a but. The song suffers from a bad case of deterioration. The song sounded very effective at first, but a few months after the release, the song just sounds repetitive and the only brief moments with guitars feel memorable. If I had reviewed the song based on first impressions I probably would have thought differently, but now I'm saddened to admit that Freedom does work out fine, but ain't very longlasting material.
Rating : 8-

2.Momo - Send Me An Angel (SCP)
It is true that SCP have truly mastered the production of very different styles in the eurobeat world. The females pushing forward the trance-flavored tunes keep evolving further and further which is a good sign of imagination. Momo's first appeareance on SEB189 wasn't a half bad performance, but it's Send Me An Angel that actually manages to make a real effort. I initially thought the song sounded heavily like a few of the Blast! productions, but that is by no means a bad thing. I would classify this song to be a rather good example of more global eurobeat. The song doesn't infuse the basic thumping eurobeat elements and the relatively thin synths, but instead brings forth a punchy and catchy infusion of modern europop and eurobeat. This song has a lot of elements that can be found from the more popular european dance acts, which to me seems like SCP producers are following their time instead of getting stuck in the past. And that, I value highly. So with all these praises, I haven't even gotten to the song itself. Send Me An Angel is catchy, definitely very catchy. The chorus is fun and the sounds are good. But I have a few minor complaints: Most of all, the song has very little variety to offer. The main title is repeated just one too many times and while it sounds good, there are limits to such. Simply put, the song is a very good example of more modern and global eurobeat, but still isn't the best SCP has pushed forward.
Rating : 8½

3.Ace Warrior - My Dream (A-Beat C)
The masculine eurobeat is a funny business for me. I have certain styles that I keep coming back to, but as a whole I'm slow to heat up to this type. This time though A-Beat C have put together something exceptionally addicting. My Dream has a pretty ideal balance of guitars and pumping beats, neither of them really steal the spotlight and instead build a strong base for this track. The chorus itself works marvellously but it's really the c-melody that makes the song shine out so much more. I am usually the kind of person to value vocal work more than anything else, but here the song structure is just so ingenious it steals the whole show. During the past few years there hasn't been an excess amount of memorable A-Beat C performances, so this sort of songs really are easy to remember, plus it's a style I'm not the most comfortable with. One of the highlights for this album.
Rating : 10

4.Daniel - Waiting For Your Hero (Delta)
Occasionally it's sort of sad to see how certain songs suffer simply by their placement on the album. I tend to listen to each Super Eurobeat album without skipping any songs in the very beginning, and that way a weak performance can easily get lost in the crowd. In the past Daniel has done some ups and downs with the productions, but generally I view the title with positive emotions. In this light I have to admit that I might be viewing things through pink glasses when I shouldn't. Waiting For Your Hero is a song that doesn't exactly have many faults, but it doesn't have any highlights either. The song could have been a more memorable performance on a different Super Eurobeat album that wasn't blessed with as many actually good songs, now it has to bow down to it's superiors. Vocals sound as impressive as ever, but when the song structure leaves a lot to be desired, it doesn't really function that well. In a perfect world this track would have much more oomph to it, the soundworld just seems kind of lacking in pretty much all departments. Either way, I can't exactly call it a bad song, it just needs more testosterone. Just don't go overboard with all the macho, one gang is enough.
Rating : 7-

5.Bon - Toy For Love (SinclaireStyle)
In the past I haven't given Sinclaire much praise for his productions, but that can't go on for long can it? Toy For Love is without doubt the best performance he has done under this new label. The song structure is simple but so catchy you will be swept away on the first playthrough. The sheer energy this song delivers is light years away from the meek girl presentations Sinclaire has done in the past, it just makes one wonder if this is where all of the innovation went to. But as always, there's something I find irritating... The vocals. I haven't exactly been the biggest fan of Fernando Bonini and for some reason he sounds simply distorted here. His voice lacks the real emotional power that some of the other male vocalists in the business have, to me he sounds like a hollow shell without any personality at all. But even with the personal preference against Fernando, the vocals can't drag an otherwise strong presentation down. Toy For Love is a great work-out song that hasn't lost any of it's initial edge, which is a good sign of a well done production.
Rating : 9

6.Vicky Vale - Do With Me (Delta)
I have tried to give this very situation a lot of consideration in the past, but I can't really make up my mind. What to do with songs like Do With Me, I honestly think that nobody will remember this song in 5 years from now. The song has absolutely nothing going for it, that would make it stand out on this album. The sounds feel rushed and it's like the same 10 second clip would have been looped for 5+ minutes. The vocals have no real key-changes and just sound boring all around. Honestly, trying to discuss a song with zero imagination is quite the challenge, going for far out bashing can be entertaining but in the long run it wouldn't really benefit anyone. It's a real shame to see how Vicky Vale has become a pale shadow of what the title used to be in the past. Two thumbs down.
Rating : 5

7.The Snake - The Snake Around (SCP)
It seems that the god of masculinity was present when songs for 203 were chosen. More electric guitars, more masculine vocals and good songs most of all. The Snake doesn't seem to let anyone down with his productions, so he's definitely welcome on board yet again (and naturally when I state this, the next song will be something horrific). The Snake Around follows the steps of its predecessors with an infusion of the similar elements we've already learned to come by in Go 2 songs. I recon it will only be a matter of time when the same old won't just work anymore though, but it still functions like a charm. The vocals are effective, chorus is catchy and guitars give the song a nice bit of extra edge. One issue with the song is how dumb the lyrics really are... the title line sounds silly everytime it's repeated and makes one wonder whether they really couldn't come up with anything better than that. Does a selfrespecting rocker really want to sing something as tacky as this? Well I guess it shows a good self esteem if nothing else, but hopefully we won't be hearing about the snakes in planes.
Rating : 9½

8.Domino - One-O-Nine (Go Go's Music)
Bouncy eurobeat is a class of it's own. In my world it's usually the type that strikes me like a thousand volts, but also gets boring fast, so it's a bit of a double-edged sword. Not all that many songs in this very style have remained likeable for a long time. Occasionally songs I valued highly during their release have become simply irritating by time. One-O-Nine was basically _THE_ thing for me on this album. The track was instantly stuck in my head and even with the japanese lyrics I have trouble understanding, I kept listening to it over and over. What makes the song really stand out is the sheer amount of positivity it brings. Domino hasn't pushed forward a song with as much energy in quite a while so it's easy to say that this track rises as one of my all time Go Go's Music favorites. The vocals are fun due to the fact that they have quite a lot of simple words even a numbnut like me can understand, plus misunderstanding japanese is fun. To me there's a fun part that sounds like she'd mention the Dragonlance, which just makes me reminisce the giddy 12-year-old kid I was when I got acquinted with the series. Also one thing that is worth of mentioning is the melodic part at 2:40-2:250 that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, not a lot of songs manage that with a short 10 second sequence. This masterpiece shows that you can still do positive eurobeat with many new imaginative elements. Help me kami-sama!
Rating : 10+

9.Christian - Take This Way (Eurogrooves)
My initial reaction to Take This Way was definitely full of excitement, but it's like a one night romance that dies out the morning after with the hangover. The song really is so strongly in your face it's impossible to be ignored. This sort of uhm, how could I put it... I'll just compare the song with an XXL-model, there's just too much meat around the bones. With music there is such a possibility of adding too many loud elements that you can't really see the forest from the trees. I usually vouch for adding more meat around the bones, but this time they probably went a bit overboard. Take This Way is a song that is fun to listen to, but it also makes me feel slightly nauseous due to the loudness in it, when everything is turned to maximum volume it eventually becomes unbearable. With a bit of modifying this track could have been a real bull's eye, now I just end up turning the volume down so I can listen through to it. A good song structure, but just too loud.
Rating : 8-

10.Lilly - I Am A Liar (HI-NRG Attack)
The more calm and thoughtful songs HRG push forward are pretty often either a clear hit or a miss. I Am A Liar does a lot well, but in the end it just doesn't really bring much originality along. I like the sounds here and there, but for some reason it seems the track has a weird way of pushing the distinctive elements to the background too often just to have the simple synth accompanied by the beat. It's a shame though, without all the cuts in the song structure (that are pretty disctinctive I guess) it might have actually worked out better. With the few elements and a stronger melody HRG could really repeat their strong slower songs again. But after some of the disasters in the past, I am fairly pleased by this sort of material that doesn't sound like a real mess of a song. Just need better execution!
Rating : 6½

11.Diabolik - Diabolik (Asia/Saifam)
Well, I am quite speechless when it comes to this very song. I very seldom am at a loss for words when I should be describing a song, but Diabolik mastered something totally different. I honestly think that even with the normal eurobeat features, this song just doesn't fall under the eurobeat category. The track has such a strong presence it has slight rave-type features and the beat is just so much stronger than the typical eurobeat track it's impossible to miss. The vocals have a strong cowboy-feel to them and the whole theme just feels ripped off from a spaghetti western. I honestly don't know what I think about the song as a whole, it's annoying but so god damn catchy. I like the really funky song structure plus vocals are really great, which I don't often get with Saifam. The annoying parts in the song come from the hollering that just seems like a real waste of time plus the repetition of the weirdly pronounced Diabolik just gets on my nerves. Technically I think a song is good even when I don't like it, but it still gets in my head. I just don't know how to grade it, on one hand I think it's an excellent example of an annoying song you will eventually love after hearing it enough times, but then again the annoying features make me want to avoid it whenever I can. Well, either way I had to come up with a solution and I decided to be gentle, so I went the kind way. Strip out the funky Diabolik, diabolik, diabolik and the hollers and we'd have a song more to my liking.
Rating : 8½

12.Stephy - I Belong To You (Dima Music)
Mastering the more pop-py eurobeat isn't something one should take for granted. The songs can easily become sleepy with a teflon surface. I Belong To You lays down the rules for songs in this category. It's easily approachable, memorable and most of all touching. The song has a very strong emotional mood attached to it and one could imagine it meaning a lot to the writers. The world is full of beautiful songs that make you feel emotional, but only a few will really make me actually sappy. This Stephy song is something that definitely represents all of that. The song feels like a direct shout out of love to someone precious. The vocals are so full of dedication and the sounds back up things perfectly. Everyone knows those moments of romance when you want sensual music to be played in the background to make the mood just perfect, but how many eurobeat songs would really work in such a situation? I Belong To You would, and that my fellow eurobeaters is special. This song would have been a perfect ending for the album.
Rating : 10

13.Girl Next Door - Power Of Love (Morris Capaldi Versus GND Remix) (Avex/Delta)
The previous Girl Next Door was such a strong performance I really had my hopes up for this track as well. But life's full of disappointments, and Power Of Love ended up being just another brick in the wall. With a strong song structure it'd be easy to add eurobeat elements along, but this time the song just doesn't offer much to work with. The track sounds like your typical J-pop that will definitely be a good weapon in the business, but for a eurobeat song it just doesn't offer enough punch to stand tall. A mediocore performance and the eurobeat-ization just doesn't work out well this time.
Rating : 6

14.Dave Rodgers - Try Me (Rock Mix) (A-Beat C)
Grampa Dave has previously done quite a few crimes against humanity with his covers. So what can you expect when he covers a screamy Lolita original. Not much is the answer. The vocals sound exactly like he is: old. The rock mix doesn't offer anything worth of mentioning and it just sounds like full frontal rape. The original is a bit of a controversial piece due to it's excessive appereances on eurobeat anniversaries, but I would feel that nobody can deny it being far superior after hearing how gramps here makes it into something different. Ending the album with a dud is never fun, but oh well what can you do...
Rating : 5

Final Words :
After the lacking 202, 203 definitely pushes forward a much stronger performance. The album actually offers a few masterpieces that remind me of the good old eras when every Super Eurobeat album had a few of such. On one hand the album had these forces to be reckoned with, but on the other hand there were quite a few songs that just lacked any real effort. It's quite typical these days though, the songs just don't have much lasting power and each album has a load of boring material on it. If this sort of trend goes on, I am not at all puzzled why Super Eurobeat albums sell less and less. In such a small niche genre, one would really hope the songs would be strong constantly. Even if this meant releasing Super Eurobeat albums less frequently. But from a fan's perspective what matters is that new material gets released. The question is, can this go on for much longer? This album was fortunately one of the very few presentations that I ended up liking more after the initial reactions. If I had reviewed this immediately after the release the grade would probably have slumped down by 1 at least.

Final Score : 7½

The Best 3 songs

- Domino - One-O-Nine
- Ace Warrior - My Dream
- Stephy - I Belong To You

The Worst 3 Songs

- Dave Rodgers - Try Me (Rock Mix)
- Vicky Vale - Do With Me
- Girl Next Door - Power Of Love (Morris Capaldi Versus GND Remix)

Honorable Mention

- The Snake - The Snake Around

Labels present on the album:

A-Beat C: 2
Delta: 3
Dima Music: 2
Eurogrooves: 1
Go Go's Music: 1
HI-NRG Attack: 1
Saifam: 1
SCP: 2
Sinclaire Style: 1

Reviewed by Bore